-Reuters The Indian government has no plans to buy farmland abroad or help private companies do so, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said on Monday, after a local Media report said New Delhi was debating the issue. “There is no government proposal. The ministry has not taken up this proposal,” Pawar told reporters. The Economic Times had in its Monday edition quoted the ministry’s top civil servant, farm secretary P K Basu, saying it...

-The Times of India The 12th Five-Year Plan, which has been delayed and likely to be released in April, is going to focus on the Right to Education (RTE) Act this time. Apart from RTE, the other key areas will include higher education and the setting up of central universities.  "The Five-Year Plan is still in its drafting stage. The two sectors - education and health - will be the focus this...

India’s decision-makers seem to find it difficult to see that there are children in the country. Being unable to see them, they are unable to perceive that they are hungry. In an age when we are able to use euphemisms like ‘under-nutrition’, this is perhaps not surprising. But it is disgraceful none the less.   This country has a large population of children. Fortyone per cent of its total numbers. The national...

This is called moron management. Instead of debating nuclear safety, India’s Prime Minister is trotting out conspiracies AS SPIN doctors go, the UPA and its Media advisers have proved to be pretty good. But as the elected government of the world’s largest democracy, their attitude towards public debate on issues of importance such as nuclear or GMO safety comes across as churlish, vengeful and authoritarian. People who believe that the anti-nuclear struggle...

-Governance Now Govt's flagship programmes remain poorly publicised because ministries issue direct advts, bypass DAVP, says I&B min Why the government does not launch a sustained Media campaign to let the people take notice of its flagship and other socio-economic programmes? Information and Broadcasting minister Ambika Soni at the receiving end of the Congress Party repeatedly asking this question has tried to put the blame on the ministries issuing direct advertisements bypassing...